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Posts Tagged ‘PA radon gas levels’

What is Radon and What Causes High Radon Levels in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?

Radon is a radioactive gas that can be found across the United States. Through a natural process, uranium decays, forming radon as a side effect. The gas is completely undetected by the human eye. You cannot smell radon or taste it. Researchers estimate that up to 30,000 deaths caused by lung cancer each year are due to exposure to high radon levels.

How Do High Radon Levels Affect Your Health?

After cigarette smoking, exposure to high radon levels is the leading cause of lung cancer in the nation. This risk increases the higher the radon levels in your home and the more radon gas you breathe into your lungs. When the particles of this radon break down, tiny amounts of energy are released. The tissue in your lungs can be damaged each time a particle releases this energy. Over an extended period of time, a constant barrage of particles damages your lungs and raises your risk of lung cancer. If you smoke and have high radon levels in your home, you are at an even greater risk of getting lung cancer.

How Can You Tell If Your Home Contains High Radon Levels?

There are testing kits that you can use yourself to determine if you have high radon levels in your home. If the home you move in to is a rental, ask the landlord for the radon test results. If you own your own home, however, you will have to take responsibility for testing its radon levels yourself. You can accomplish this with a home radon testing kit if you wish, although a professional test from SWAT Environmental will be more convenient and accurate. This test will tell you whether further steps are necessary to protect your family from elevated radon levels.

How Should You Deal with High Radon Levels?

High radon levels inside a home, while dangerous, are an easily correctable problem. If the home is a rental unit, ask your landlord or building owner to repair the building. Put the request in writing and include your test results. Most home or building owners are required to maintain the structure and keep it “habitable.” The state radon office can support property owners by giving them information on how to reduce or eliminate poor indoor air quality, including from high radon levels. If you are the homeowner, you will need to hire SWAT Environmental to reduce your house’s radon levels. The specific techniques required to accomplish this will vary somewhat from house to house; SWAT’s experts will be able to design the optimal system for your house to both deal with the radon gas already in your home, and to prevent it from returning.

On the one hand, high radon levels in your house are a very serious problem that you should not take lightly. But on the other hand, a few preventative measures employed in advance can keep the issue from harming you or your family.